Gate of the Year

King George VI quoted the first section of this poem in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire.

I said to the man who stood
at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread
safely into the unknown.'
And he replied, 'Go into the darkness
and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light
and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.
So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth His intention.
Minnie Louise Haskins